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From: jgro@apldbio.com (Jeremy Grodberg)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Soliloquy on Llama Dung
Message-ID: <9831@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 17 Jul 90 18:30:13 GMT
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Reply-To: jgro@apldbio.com (Jeremy Grodberg)
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X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 492, Message 9 of 9


In article <9656@accuvax.nwu.edu> 0004133373@mcimail.com (Donald E.
Kimberlin) writes:
>X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 477, Message 10 of 10

>                           " LLAMA ALERT!
>       " We engineers are so good at solving problems that we
>sometimes forget to ask if the problem has been posed correctly; we
>just solve it.  Yet questioning the rationale behind product
>specifications can avoid a lot of pointless effort.
>[ Story pointing out the specification of treating leather with llama dung
>	was intended to solve a problem which was no longer relevant ]
>       " So, on your next project, make sure you know the reason
>behind the specs.  If you hear, "We've always done it that way," watch
>out for llama dung."

Unfotunately, I have seen the reverse problem more often: specs which
cannot be justified are discarded, and later the reason for the specs
is discovered.

A great example is when the Bell breakup allowed anyone to make
phones.  Companies said "What do phones have to look like this?" and
created dozens of phone designs that would hang-up when you cradled
them on your shoulder, or go off hook when the cat kicked them off the
table.  The little features of Bell telephones that were added to keep
the phone from hanging up when it fell off the table (and was in use)
were subtle, and no one thought they were of any importance, so the
were canned.  Only after several years did the new companies re-learn
the lessons.

I'm sure there are hundreds of other stories where people couldn't
think of why a feature was needed until after it was left out of the
finished product.  One needs to be equally cautious of this situation.


Jeremy Grodberg
jgro@apldbio.com    "Beware: free advice is often overpriced!"